The demand for effective and secure fixing of carcasses in slaughter-houses is increasing. This is in particular true for modern slaughterhouses having a high degree of automation and a high throughput. Some modern slaughterhouses process about 400 carcasses per hour, meaning that a carcass must be processed in less than 10 seconds. This ever-increasing pace intensifies the workload and the demand for effective processes at the slaughterhouse. To ensure efficient slaughtering of the animal and efficient cutting-out of the meat, both contributing to high yield, it is necessary to provide quick and secure fixing of the carcass.
Various solutions for fixing carcasses are known in the art. One example is the device for fixing a carcass disclosed in International Patent Application No. WO 05/94593. The carcass has an incision through the abdomen, the chest and part of the throat. The carcass is hanging by its hind legs from a gambrel and is fixed by means of hooks or shackles, which are arranged around the forelegs and which pulls the carcass backwards—that is, in a horizontal direction towards the back of the carcass—so that its back is pressed against an abutment. The pull exerted by the shackles on the forelegs causes the carcass to open at the incision.
Further, the head of the carcass is secured by means of a vertically operating, self-positioning forehead rest, which adjusts to the anatomy of the carcass.
This application also teaches cutting the larynx from the throat back side by means of a cutting tool inserted into the throat from above, that is, from the chest cavity, and performing a downwards cutting movement along the back of the throat.
Another example is the device for fixing a carcass disclosed in International Patent Application No. WO 94/24873. In this device, an animal carcass is hanging head-down from a gambrel, and a gripping means grips the snout of the animal and exercises a downward force on the carcass, thereby stretching the carcass. The device further comprises an arm engaging the pubic bone of the carcass to position and stretch the carcass.
An apparatus for automatically cutting the jowl of a carcass is disclosed in European Patent No. 1.135.988. Also here, the carcass is hanging head-down from a gambrel. The apparatus comprises a hook adapted for engaging the mandibular angle through a cut in the throat.
European Patent No. 673.202 relates to an apparatus for fixing a carcass in an ergonomically correct position for slaughtering by a butcher. The carcass is hanging head-down from a gambrel and is fixed by a fixing means fixing the front legs of the carcass.
Objects of the disclosure are to provide an improved fixing device and method, which will quickly and securely fix the fore-end of a carcass; which will keep a lengthwise cut through belly and throat towards the mandible angle open for slaughter operations to be performed; which will fix the fore-end of the carcass in a way facilitating slaughter operations made to the head or head end of the carcass; which will enable slaughter operations to be made through the mouth of the carcass; and which will fix the carcass in a way suitable for automated operations, that is, where the positions of the various parts of the carcass are well defined.